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Jan 23, 2023 · Myth 1: You Have to Swear Off Sugar Completely. Cutting out sweets altogether might help you reduce your calorie intake and lose weight in the short-term. But that approach can lead to feeling deprived, and it can ultimately end up backfiring. Good and Bad Foods for a Diet which Combats Candida.
- How Much Weight Can I Lose If I Eliminate Sugar
But to lose weight, the calorie requirements are even lower....
- Is Junk Food OK in Moderation
This doesn't mean you have to swear off junk food entirely —...
- How Much Weight Can I Lose If I Eliminate Sugar
- Overview
- How do 30-day no sugar challenges work?
- Do 30-day no sugar challenges have benefits?
- Foods to eat and foods to avoid
- Are there downsides?
- Sustainable ways to lower sugar intake
- The bottom line
Reducing your intake of added sugar over time can benefit your overall health, including helping you maintain a moderate weight and healthy blood sugar levels.
There’s no doubt that consuming too much added sugar harms your overall health.
Unfortunately, most Americans consume far too much added sugar in the form of soda, candy, sweetened baked goods, sugary breakfast cereals, and more.
Cutting back on added sugar is important, as excessive consumption is linked to an increased risk of certain health conditions, including fatty liver, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
To reduce their added sugar intake, some people take part in “no sugar” challenges. These challenges typically involve cutting out all forms of added sugar for a set amount of time, often 30 days.
This article explains what 30-day no sugar challenges are and whether they’re beneficial for your health.
Many types of 30-day no sugar challenges exist, but most have similar guidelines.
The main goal is to cut out all sources of added sugar for 30 days. Instead, you focus on consuming nutrient-dense, whole foods that don’t contain added sugars.
Natural sugars, which are found in foods like vegetables, fruits, and dairy products, are OK to eat. The focus is on cutting out added sugars and foods high in added sugars, including sugary breakfast cereals, ice cream, cookies, cakes, candy, soda, and sweetened coffee drinks.
Again, there are many variations of the 30-day no sugar challenge, so the rules and recommendations may differ by program.
Alternatively, you can easily create your own 30-day no sugar challenge using the information in this article.
All you need to do is cut out — or limit — added sugar for 30-days and fuel your body with nutrient-dense foods.
Any dietary pattern that reduces or cuts out added sugar is likely to benefit overall health, especially among people who regularly consume high amounts of added sugar.
However, the most important factor in any dietary pattern is consistency, which isn’t necessarily the point of a 30-day no sugar challenge.
If you cut out added sugar for 30 days only to return to a diet that’s high in added sugar, the benefits of following an added-sugar-free diet will be quickly lost.
The following benefits are related to reducing added sugar in general.
Foods to avoid
While following a 30-day no sugar challenge, people are encouraged to restrict foods and beverages high in added sugars, including: •Sweeteners: table sugar, honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, agave, coconut sugar •Sweetened beverages: soda, sweetened smoothies and juices, sweetened coffee drinks, sports drinks •Condiments with added sugar: ketchup, BBQ sauce, honey mustard, coffee creamer •Sweetened dairy products: flavored yogurt, ice cream, chocolate milk •Sugary baked goods: cookies, cakes, donuts, bread with added sugar •Sugary breakfast foods: sugar-sweetened cereals, bars, granola, flavored oatmeal •Candy: chocolate, gummy candies, caramels •Sugary alcoholic beverages: mixed drinks, sweetened liquor, sweetened canned alcoholic drinks Additionally, most no sugar challenges recommend forgoing artificial and naturally derived low or no-calorie sweeteners such as Splenda, Equal, stevia, and monk fruit. It’s commonly recommended that refined grains, including white bread, white pasta, and white rice, are kept to a minimum and replaced with whole grain products without added sugars.
Foods to eat
During 30-day no sugar challenges, participants are encouraged to fill up on whole, nutrient-dense foods, including: •Vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, carrots, asparagus, zucchini, sweet potatoes, etc. •Fruits: apples, oranges, berries, grapes, cherries, grapefruit, etc. •Proteins: chicken, fish, beef, tofu, eggs, etc. •Healthy fat sources: egg yolks, avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil, unsweetened yogurt, etc. •Complex carb sources: beans, quinoa, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, brown rice, etc. •Unsweetened beverages: water, sparkling water, unsweetened coffee, and tea Overall, most no added sugar challenges encourage whole, nutrient-dense foods like the ones listed above. Summary 30-day no sugar challenges involve cutting out sources of added sugar and increasing your intake of nutrient-dense foods that are free of added sugars.
There are no adverse physical health effects associated with reducing your added sugar intake, as long as you do so responsibly and couple it with healthy eating choices for the duration of the 30-day challenge.
However, like any restrictive dietary pattern, no added sugar challenges may lead to unhealthy eating behaviors in some people.
For example, some people may find that they develop an unhealthy preoccupation with healthy food or harmful food rules around foods they used to enjoy after participating in this type of challenge.
People with disordered eating tendencies may be more likely to experience this (30, 31, 32).
Additionally, the emphasis on short-term restriction is problematic because long-term, sustainable dietary and lifestyle modifications are most important for overall health.
If you cut out added sugar for 30 days only to return to a high sugar diet, the health benefits of added sugar reduction will be canceled out.
If you decide to partake in a 30-day no sugar challenge, use it as a time to discover which foods or beverages are contributing most to your total added sugar intake.
This can help you cut back on those sources when the 30-day challenge is over.
After the challenge, try not to focus on giving up all sources of added sugar for good, as this is unrealistic for most people. Instead, attempt to transition to a diet low in added sugars and high in healthy foods that you can follow long term.
Keep in mind that you can create your own challenge that focuses on reducing — not completely restricting — added sugar. This may be a better choice for people who currently consume a high amount of added sugar.
For example, if you currently consume four cans of soda per day, try reducing your soda intake by one can every week for 1 month. This can help you slowly cut back on your added sugar consumption in a realistic way.
Lastly, it’s important to understand that your focus should always be on your long-term health.
30-day no sugar challenges are a popular way to cut back on added sugar, and there’s no doubt that reducing your intake of added sugar can improve many aspects of your health.
However, while participating in a 30-day no sugar challenge may help you reduce your added sugar intake, these programs focus on short-term fixes, not sustainable dietary and lifestyle modifications.
- Jillian Kubala, MS, RD
But to lose weight, the calorie requirements are even lower. In fact, many women will lose weight on a diet including only 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day. That doesn't leave a lot of room — if any — for nonnutritive, sugary foods. If you are on a 1,400-calorie weight-loss diet and you drink a can of soda at lunch that provides almost 200 ...
Jun 9, 2017 · Detoxing from sugar can help you lose weight quickly. “We had over 80 testers from all over the country, and they lost anywhere between 5 to 20 pounds during the 31 days, depending on their ...
- Lisa Drayer
- 1 min
Jul 21, 2019 · Here’s what I typically eat in a day now: Breakfast: Black coffee or green tea (no cream or sugar), eggs with spinach, and turkey or bacon. Lunch: Stir-fry veggies and grilled chicken. Snacks ...
Apr 22, 2016 · Cutting back on added sugar. Watching the sugar in your diet can help you control your weight and potentially avoid serious chronic health problems — for example, heart disease and diabetes. You might be surprised at how many of the "healthy" foods you eat contain sugar. Energy bars, fruit, flavored yogurt — all are "good" foods, but many ...
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Aug 28, 2023 · Cut added sugar and you could lower calories and body weight, which could improve your cholesterol. But it’s not just the weight loss. Even at the same weight as others, people who got less than ...
